A. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the present invention relate to a cradle, and more particularly, the embodiments of the present invention relate to an animated-figures-rocked cradle for amusing and rocking an infant.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Cradles for infants have been available for many years, and since it is considered advantageous to provide a rocking motion for the cradle, many of the cradles are supported by rocker elements that can be utilized for rocking the cradle to and fro. Of course, the rocking motion usually extends through a relatively short time period and must be manually or otherwise renewed frequently in order to achieve any lasting effects for the infant disposed in the cradle.
Countless different designs for infant beds, hammocks, and cradles have heretofore been introduced into the marketplace. It is a natural objective of articles of this type to receive an infant with security and comfort, while also desirably having the advantages of low cost, portability, and convenience of use.
The soporific effects produced by gently rocking an infant have been recognized since antiquity to provide soothing relief to child and parent alike, and cradle makers have crafted many devices for lulling a child off to sleep. The typical cradle rocks about a base or pivot. This results in the traditional swaying-rocking mode in which the infant undergoes a small up-and-down motion in addition to the dominant side-to-side motion. Although other types of rocking motions have potentially soothing effects, they are not commonly found in cradles. In many instances, it is also a desirable objective to permit physical and visual stimulation of the baby while lying within the bed.
Numerous innovations for cradles have been provided in the prior art, which will be described below in chronological order to show advancement in the art, and which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they each differ in structure, and/or operation, and/or purpose from the embodiments of the present invention, in that they do not teach an animated-figures-rocked cradle for amusing and rocking an infant.
(1) U.S. Pat. No. Des. 547 to Edmonds.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 547 issued to Edmonds on Feb. 22, 1853 teaches an ornamental design for a horilogical cradle.
(2) U.S. Pat. No. 132,745 to Batley.
U.S. Pat. No. 132,745 issued to Batley on Nov. 5, 1872 teaches a child's crib, including hangers, standards, cross pieces, curves, guides, rollers, a frame, and a crib.
(3) U.S. Pat. No. 204,944 to Bernhard.
U.S. Pat. No. 204,944 issued to Bernhard on Jun. 18, 1878 teaches a cradle, including a stand, a crib, longitudinal bent rods passing beneath the bottom of the crib and extending from head to foot, whereby the crib is suspended and a support is afforded for the slats or other bottom.(4) U.S. Pat. No. 430,616 to Brewer.U.S. Pat. No. 430,616 issued to Brewer on Jun. 24, 1890 teaches a cradle, including a frame combined with a swinging cradle, and long flat springs. Two or more of the springs are disposed at each end of the frame and have their upper ends secured rigidly to the frame and their lower ends secured rigidly to the bottom of the cradle. The springs are arranged edgewise to the bottom of the cradle and form the sole support and connection between the cradle and its frame, whereby the cradle will be given a noiseless easy motion without friction. The movement is maintained for a long time even after the hand of the operator has been removed.(5) U.S. Pat. No. Des. 25,675 to Robinson.U.S. Pat. No. Des. 25,675 issued to Robinson on Jun. 23, 1896 teaches an ornamental design for a cradle.(6) U.S. Pat. No. 824,133 to Morse.U.S. Pat. No. 824,133 issued to Morse on Jun. 26, 1906 teaches a cradle, including a frame, a cradle suspended from the frame, and resilient hangers connecting the cradle and frame, respectively, and have their opposite ends curved laterally and rigidly secured thereto. The hangers are free to expand and contract at points adjacent their fixed ends.(7) U.S. Pat. No. 992,602 to Russell.U.S. Pat. No. 992,602 issued to Russell on May 16, 1911 teaches a baby rest, including a base, a pair of oppositely disposed removable standards upon the base, an offset member for each of the standards, and hanger arms. Each of the offset members have its extremity formed with a head. Each of the hanger arms includes a central member having its lower portion forked. A body is connected with the forked arms. The central member of each of the hanger arms is formed with an eye. Each of the eyes include a pair of separable members and is adapted to be positioned upon the offset members of the standards. A spring member is adjustably connected with each of the standards. Each of the spring members includes a body portion adapted to straddle the standard and being formed with angular spaced arms. The central member of each of the hanger arms is positioned between the angular spring arms and is adapted to be contacted thereby when the body member is in motion.(8) U.S. Pat. No. 1,132,432 to Brzozowski.U.S. Pat. No. 1,132,432 issued to Brzozowski on Mar. 16, 1915 teaches a crib, including a frame having end uprights, a crib, suspending rods between the crip and the uprights, a transverse bar upon the frame and beneath the crib, steadying rods pivoted between the ends of the bar and one end of the crib, and eccentric operating rods carried by the frame and connected to the crib.(9) U.S. Pat. No. Des. 102,209 to Kuhn.U.S. Pat. No. Des. 102,209 issued to Kuhn on Dec. 1, 1936 teaches an ornamental design for a baby's bed.(10) U.S. Pat. No. Des. 167,295 to Arliss.U.S. Pat. No. Des. 167,295 issued to Arliss on Jul. 22, 1952 in class D34 and subclass 15 teaches an ornamental design for a toy cradle.(11) U.S. Pat. No. Des. 180,162 to Scoggins.U.S. Pat. No. Des. 180,162 issued to Scoggins on Apr. 23, 1957 in class D5 and subclass 4 teaches an ornamental design for a child's bed.(12) U.S. Pat. No. Des. 188,176 to Billhimer, Sr.U.S. Pat. No. Des. 188,176 issued to Billhimer, Sr. on Jun. 14, 1960 in class D5 and subclass 5 teaches an ornamental design for a baby cradle.(13) U.S. Pat. No. Des. 222,325 to Curtis.U.S. Pat. No. Des. 222,325 issued to Curtis on Oct. 19, 1971 in class D6 and subclass 01 teaches an ornamental design for a clown bed.(14) U.S. Pat. No. 3,821,822 to Borreggine.U.S. Pat. No. 3,821,822 issued to Borreggine on Jul. 2, 1974 in class 5 and subclass 109 teaches a combination cradle, crib, and youth bed, including a longitudinally oriented base frame including a pair of spaced-apart, upstanding head members facing one another and a longitudinal base member connected between upstanding head members. A body supporting unit has opposite headboards releasably supported by a base frame, and parallel bars associated with each head member of the base frame are pivotally connected between an upper portion of each head member and a lower portion of each headboard of the body supporting unit. Structural relationship between the base frame, the body supporting unit, and the parallel bars enable the unit to swing in a to-and-fro transverse direction relative to the base frame. A separate stabilizer is connected between at least one of the headboards and its adjacent head member for preventing longitudinal play of the body supporting unit when it swings in the to-and-fro transverse direction relative to the base frame.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for cradles have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the embodiments of the present invention as heretofore described, namely, an animated-figures-rocked cradle for amusing and rocking an infant.